Google Earth

Google Earth

I hope someone will take the time to help me understand the use of Google Earth images and how to acquire them and use them in QGIS.

I have been using Google Earth free version for some time. The images are clear and very good resolution. I recently purchased a copy of the area I need that is in MrSid format. However the resolution is only good to a point. Then it is really pixelated at the zoom level I really need.

I understand that I need a paid "Pro" subscription to Google earth, but I don't know what else and how to go about the actual download or capture of the map segments I need. I have seen discussion on the subject and the file format etc. but just need to get the pieces together.

Also I have been using the Tiger files for the roads, which has its own challenges. All the data and the layers I have created so far are in NAD 83 Zone12. (+proj=utm +zone=12 +ellps=GRS80 +towgs84=0,0,0,0,0,0,0 +units=m +no_defs). I could probably translate them to another if necessary but would like to keep the work load down to a minimum.

RE: Google Earth

> Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2012 17:07:02 -0700
> From: Chuck Young <[hidden email]>
> Subject: [Qgis-user] Google Earth
> To: [hidden email]> Message-ID:
> <[hidden email]>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> I hope someone will take the time to help me understand the use of Google
> Earth images and how to acquire them and use them in QGIS.
>
> I have been using Google Earth free version for some time. The images are
> clear and very good resolution. I recently purchased a copy of the area I
> need that is in MrSid format. However the resolution is only good to a
> point. Then it is really pixelated at the zoom level I really need.
> I understand that I need a paid "Pro" subscription to Google earth, but I
> don't know what else and how to go about the actual download or capture of
> the map segments I need. I have seen discussion on the subject and the file
> format etc. but just need to get the pieces together.

You can directly connect QGIS to the Google (or Bing or Yahoo) satellite layer using the openlayers plugin.

But Google doesn't own the imagery, and even if you get Google Earth Pro you aren't actually allowed to use the imagery to create "derivative works". Exactly how far the permitted use extends will depend on what you are using it for and the law in your country, but my understanding is that it is typically about as far as using it to display the location of your organisation or event in advertising material.
I have seen rumours that you are allowed to do more with the Yahoo imagery, but when I looked I don't think I could even find any information about its licensing.

RE: Google Earth

> Thanks for the quick reply, Alister! Are you saying that I can through the openlayers plugin, that I can directly see the Google Earth (free version) > images as a background for my selected area? If so I will try it.

Yes, it just opens a connection to the Google earth data as a new layer. It doesn’t require the Google earth software.

I don’t know if there even is a distinction between the quality of the images you _see_ with the free vs professional Google earth editions. Isn’t it just the quality of the images you can _save_?Anyway, I don’t know which one it corresponds to.

> Does it connect to the Google map server etc and allow me to go to the area I want as if I were directly viewing the map in Google Earth?

It doesn’t provide any mechanism for searching for a location – you need another layer to search in or zoom to, or you can paste coordinates, or zoom in from viewing the whole world

> I will look at it with these ideas in mind. And again, Thanks
>
> Chuck

> >
> > I hope someone will take the time to help me understand the use of Google
> > Earth images and how to acquire them and use them in QGIS.
> >
> > I have been using Google Earth free version for some time. The images are
> > clear and very good resolution. I recently purchased a copy of the area I
> > need that is in MrSid format. However the resolution is only good to a
> > point. Then it is really pixelated at the zoom level I really need.
> > I understand that I need a paid "Pro" subscription to Google earth, but I
> > don't know what else and how to go about the actual download or capture of
> > the map segments I need. I have seen discussion on the subject and the file
> > format etc. but just need to get the pieces together.

> You can directly connect QGIS to the Google (or Bing or Yahoo) satellite layer using the openlayers plugin.
>
> But Google doesn't own the imagery, and even if you get Google Earth Pro you aren't actually allowed to use the imagery to create "derivative works". Exactly how far the permitted use extends will depend on what you are using it for and the law in your country,
but my understanding is that it is typically about as far as using it to display the location of your organisation or event in advertising material.
> I have seen rumours that you are allowed to do more with the Yahoo imagery, but when I looked I don't think I could even find any information about its licensing.
>
> Regards,
> Alister

Alister: I got the Google map up and was able to translate the Tiger Roads layer to the Google Mercater ?? CRS and it works very well. However I have tried to translate the other layers to the same format
and nothing works. Seems silly. I have gone back to the original files and the Tiger water layer will not translate correctly. I had this problem before and eventually got it correct but it seems like after doing one translation QGIS doesn't feel like doing
another. At least in the same session. I have shut down the application and restarted but still no good.

> Thanks for the quick reply, Alister! Are you saying that I can through the openlayers plugin, that I can directly see the Google Earth (free version) > images as a background
for my selected area? If so I will try it.

Yes, it just opens a connection to the Google earth data as a new layer. It doesn’t require the Google earth software.

I don’t know if there even is a distinction between the quality of the images you _see_ with the free vs professional Google earth editions. Isn’t it just the quality of the images
you can _save_?Anyway, I don’t know which one it corresponds to.

> Does it connect to the Google map server etc and allow me to go to the area I want as if I were directly viewing the map in Google Earth?

It doesn’t provide any mechanism for searching for a location – you need another layer to search in or zoom to, or you can paste coordinates, or zoom in from viewing the whole world

> I will look at it with these ideas in mind. And again, Thanks
>
> Chuck

> >
> > I hope someone will take the time to help me understand the use of Google
> > Earth images and how to acquire them and use them in QGIS.
> >
> > I have been using Google Earth free version for some time. The images are
> > clear and very good resolution. I recently purchased a copy of the area I
> > need that is in MrSid format. However the resolution is only good to a
> > point. Then it is really pixelated at the zoom level I really need.
> > I understand that I need a paid "Pro" subscription to Google earth, but I
> > don't know what else and how to go about the actual download or capture of
> > the map segments I need. I have seen discussion on the subject and the file
> > format etc. but just need to get the pieces together.

> You can directly connect QGIS to the Google (or Bing or Yahoo) satellite layer using the openlayers plugin.
>
> But Google doesn't own the imagery, and even if you get Google Earth Pro you aren't actually allowed to use the imagery to create "derivative works". Exactly how far the permitted use extends will depend on what you are using it for and the law in your country,
but my understanding is that it is typically about as far as using it to display the location of your organisation or event in advertising material.
> I have seen rumours that you are allowed to do more with the Yahoo imagery, but when I looked I don't think I could even find any information about its licensing.
>
> Regards,
> Alister

FW: [Qgis-user] Google Earth

> From: Chuck Young [mailto:[hidden email]]
> Sent: Monday, 13 February 2012 5:52 a.m.
> To: Alister Hood
> Subject: Re: [Qgis-user] Google Earth
>
> I had that set to on the fly but the layers would load and show so far off the range that when you go to extents the Google satellite layer would finally display up to eight copies of the continents. and my little smudge was so small that I could never locate it. I finally decided to just recreate the layers I need as they only require a couple of days to get in. It is a lot of work but less than fighting the projection then doing it. I tried both re-projection and on the fly. I tried setting the project CRS to Google Mercator and different settings and anything else I could think of.
>
> I would have thought that because the Tiger roads layer worked the water layer would, but no. So I will go ahead without that layer for now.
> Thanks for your help and efforts. I really appreciate your kindness. If you think of anything else I could try I would like to hear.
>
> Thanks again!
>
> Chuck
> >
> > On Sun, Feb 12, 2012 at 2:35 AM, Alister Hood <[hidden email]> wrote:
> > Are you sure you need to translate them?
> > You can't just use on-the-fly reprojection?
> > >...

Re: FW: [Qgis-user] Google Earth

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Hi

I've been playing with the Open Layers plugin with Google Earth
What I find is that connecting to GE sets the project crs to google mercator automatically via some xml I think.
Setting the other layers to their own crs i.e the crs the data are defined for - works perfectly for me.
though I haven't used the Tiger data set you mention.

For example I downloaded the UK OS 25k maps and used a script to create .wld files to geolocate them. So now when I add the GE layer, and then import the raster OS maps I have to set the OS raster layers' crs to OSGB Airy 1830 i.e. the crs for that daya the jpegs fit over the GE satellite images perfectly. The same is true for data defined on WGS84 I have

I don't know what the crs for the Tiger data is WGS84? but my experience is that if you just set the layer's crs to the crs of the data QGis just makes everything work. Enable 'on the fly' CRS is turned off, BTW, and I leave the project crs to Google Mercator

Re: FW: [Qgis-user] Google Earth

The Google Earth App is scriptable on a MAC I don't know about the other OSs Linux etc.
But with apple script you can locate the 'camera' in GE and grab the screen to a file.

You can automate this in Ruby (and possibly other scripting languages) by using the rubygem 'appscript' You can then crop and mosaic the saved images using image manipulation tools like Image Magick or in Ruby RMagick

Doing this I can create 10Km square (or arbitrary size) grabs of GE satellite images with no logo (for personal use you understand!) Problem is it takes around 45 mins to produce a 10Km square this way. Still its much easier than fiddling around in the GIMP for hours!

The next thing I'm going to try is to use spatial data (MULTILINESTRINGS) from Spatialite to 'drive' the camera in GE to follow some feature or road or whatever.